The movement for Palestine is unprecedented in its radicalization of wide layers of society. But there are many demoralizing factors, from unending news of the genocide to vicious state repression. How do we make the movement stronger? The solution is democracy: building engaged membership in democratic organizations, training them as organizers themselves, and making them active participants in the struggle.
Dan La Botz and Stephen R. Shalom’s recent writings in Tempest have scolded supporters of Palestinian armed resistance. Their abstract moralizing about October 7 comes as no surprise: despite their stated international socialism, a look at their past writings reveals a tendency towards philosophical idealism, and a definite drift rightward toward reformism and liberalism.
In the leadup to the DSA’s national convention, the Tempest Collective assessed the organization and their work within it. Firebrand points out that skipping the work of political and organizational clarification in order to influence broader layers means accomplishing neither.
Continued from Part One After my first experiences with the International Socialist Organization (ISO), what convinced me to join was the sincere belief that my views and actions mattered. After meeting up with some comrades from the organization in early 2011, we...
A revolt contained, but polarization continues In 2020, we witnessed the biggest wave of protests in the United States in the past 50 years, if not ever. The George Floyd rebellion was the highest phase so far in a long series of cycles in the recent Black liberation...
Introduction “Trotsky considers the opportunist current and its leaders somewhat as victims of circumstances… There is no doubt that opportunism, like all else in the world has its objective causes in external conditions. But in politics more than anywhere else, to...
In recent years, mutual aid has overtaken protest as a dominant form of Left political action. When the US government failed to address anything more than the barest of needs during the pandemic, communities organized themselves. After this same government repressed...
“A supporter of the theory of scientific communism does not take anything on word. He judges everything by reason and experience…. Bureaucratic and artificial discipline has crumbled to dust at the moment of danger. Revolutionary discipline does not exclude but...
Many people probably know about the proposed ban on TikTok. Biden, the Democrats, and Republicans are coming together in bipartisan unity to limit free speech. They’re attacking an app that many of us not only use for funny and stupid videos, but also for political...